Baseball great Yogi Berra coined the phrase, "It ain't over till it's over." Friends and family of Steve Schockow have to wonder how long it will take for that to sink in. After 30 years as manager, and an officer for Spencerport Junior Baseball, Schockow is calling it quits. Schockow got involved in Spencerport Junior Baseball in 1973 while still in high school, helping out with his younger brother's team, the Olds. Now 449 games later, Schockow, age 47, will walk away from his Olds team and try to begin a semi-normal life. "My entire adult life had been planned around Spencerport Junior Baseball," said Schockow. "I know it sounds selfish, but I just can't justify giving up all that family time anymore." Even if winning 55 percent of all his games won't land Schockow in the Baseball Hall of Fame, he definitely merits prominent placement in any hall of fame devoted to volunteers. Schockow, who teaches junior high social studies in the West Irondequoit district, has been making the trip out west to Spencerport since 1989. "I've learned that there is no easy way to drive from Irondequoit to Spencerport," laughs Schockow. He continued to make the drive for more than a decade after he moved to the east side because Schockow enjoys staying involved in the village he grew up in. Schockow went to St. John's Spencerport through eighth grade and graduated from Spencerport High School. He received his undergraduate degree at Roberts Wesleyan and did his graduate work at SUNY Brockport. Schockow devoted the first 20 years of his professional life to Catholic education. He taught at St. Boniface, and was the principal at St. John's in Spencerport, Our Lady of Lords, Seton Catholic and Siena Catholic Academy. Throughout his professional life he also juggled his duties for Spencerport Junior Baseball and various other coaching positions. Schockow also coached CYO basketball for 24 years. At one point, he was coaching eight different teams. His role as Spencerport Junior Baseball secretary, which he proudly performed from 1977-2003, was also extremely time consuming. In addition to many other tasks, Schockow was required to handle all of the registration, managing sponsors and billing for the organization. Through job changes, moves and various family matters, Schockow only missed four baseball games during his 30-year tenure. He missed one for surgery. He missed two when his mother died and he missed one for the birth of his grandson, Steven. Schockow said he will gladly miss many more for Steven, who has helped to take his focus away from the baseball diamond. "I've been blessed with a great family and I look forward to spending more time with them," Schockow said. Along with his grandson, Schockow will now get to see more of his wife Cathy, son John and daughter Julie. It will be difficult for Schockow to quit community service cold turkey. Lately his spare moments have been spent on town politics. He ran for Brighton Town Board for the second consecutive election, but was again unable to gain a seat. If elected, Schockow would have been the first Republican in a long time to be elected in Brighton. He takes losing in stride, however, a lesson learned on the baseball diamond. "Life isn't a string of wins," said Schockow. "Some of my fondest memories are of games we lost." |
